Exploring

If you are an explorer at heart – then Hong Kong will provide plenty for you to search out and discover. It’s surprisingly rich in cultural and scenic gems. With a city so dense, a territory so mountainous and a coastline so indented, a modest 1000 sq km can provide an incredible number of attractions. A number of stock labels are regularly applied to Hong Kong – Pearl of the Orient, City of Life, Asia’s World City – but these do little to describe the great diversity which exists within this unique region on the coast of China. Hong Kong is a meeting point of cultures from all over Asia and beyond. Its heritage draws on influences from the imperial Chinese, the colonial British, and traders and adventurers of a hundred nationalities; and it is home to communities from all corners of the world. Food, architecture, religion, government and language all bear the imprints of a century and more of international exchange. The glittering harbour is the centrepiece of a loud, crowded, sometimes overwhelming city, but it is compact, and escape to the mountains or islands is quick and easy. Hong Kong’s public transport is cheap, frequent and goes almost everywhere. The areas not covered by MTR or KCR are generally saturated by bus routes, and you’ll find that even the smallest village is served by a green minibus. Where minibuses fail, then there is always the taxi, also relatively cheap and in good supply. Regular ferry services are supplemented by sampans and ‘kaido’ village ferries. An Octopus card is a useful tool for public transport, but as yet it is not accepted in taxis or red minibuses. Besides transport, sightseeing is also very affordable. If no admission fee is mentioned for the following entries, you can assume there is none. Some municipal museums charge a token fee for entry, usually as little as $10 for adults, but even that is often waived on one day per week. If time is short, then there is a range of guided tours aimed at people who want to see a lot in a few hours. If you need a change of pace, surroundings or culture, then it’s easy to visit the border cities of China, or the former Portuguese enclave of Macau. And many of Asia’s most popular attractions are within a three-hour radius by air. This section covers these too. Each of Hong Kong’s areas has its own character, sights and environment, whether rural or urban. Each area is described in detail, allowing you to plan a day trip. Use this chapter in conjunction with the maps starting on p.409. As Hong Kong people say, jau la – let’s go!